Airshow conference focus on pilot shortage

Dubai, November 18, 2013

The Gulf Aviation Training Event (Gate), an event at the Dubai Airshow, was launched today, to focus on the impact of the current pilot shortage, selection methods and training.

The two-day event, under the theme ‘Breaking Paradigms: Training the Gulf’s New Generation of Aviators,’ discussed that urgent action is needed to resolve the lack of qualified, commercial aviation pilots.

Captain Ed Davidson, Gate summit director and former Gulf-based Emirates Airline executive, said: “We are running out of the capabilities to fix this issue before we are in a dire situation.

“If we look at the latest numbers – following on from the announcements by Etihad, flydubai and Emirates Airline regarding buying hundreds of aircraft, and opening new routes, we face an extreme challenge. We need to find 460,000 pilots over the next 20 years, but the biggest number of people ever recruited into the industry annually was just 14,000.”

Captain Davidson identified three barriers to recruitment: where to find the manpower; the high cost of training a pilot – $100,000; and how to train pilots so they are comfortable with automation and technology.

Two organisations present at the summit - CTC Aviation and Emirates Airline - have already identified the increased demand for pilots and have set about developing solutions.

Emirates is in the final stages of completing a Cadet Pilot Academy at the new Al Maktoum World Central Airport, Jebel Ali, Dubai.

CTC Aviation Group, a leading provider of Cadet Pilots to the air transport industry, is focussed on future pilot recruitment and training; with plans to open new training facilities in the near future.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabian investment company Infinity unveiled plans at the Dubai Airshow, to establish a new $267million Aviation Academy in Riyadh. - TradeArabia News Service